Cambridge with Meaghan, May 21

 Another sunny day! We are having such a string of them.

 After saying our goodbyes to Pete and Shirley, Mark drove to Cambridge. It is only 70 miles, but the bit through London took quite a time and we arrived after 2 hours at Canterbury Street in Cambridge.

   We are staying with Meaghan Lynch who was in Mark's 7th grade class and who was in the Drama Club. (Steel Magnolias) We have kept up with Meaghan who we last saw in Washington, D.C. She works for the U.S. Army in intelligence and is stationed about 30 miles outside of Cambridge at an Air Force Base. But, she didn't want to live in a village, so she commutes from Cambridge where she has a cute little 3-bedroom house with a garden.

   She instructed us how to get in, as she was at work, and we walked into town, about a mile and a half away. We ate at a little sushi place and then explored. We went into the open air market and found the riverwalk by the River Cam where we watched the punts going down the river. It was quite warm and we sat and people watched under a willow tree. Then, we ambled our way home through the beautiful town, peering into the historic college squares. (They are, understandably, off-limits as they are functioning colleges, although some are accessible via tours and paying, which we opted not to do.)

   Meaghan came home with her dog, Curry, a corgi mix who goes to daycare. We all walked back into town where we ate at Pho, a wonderful restaurant where we all had fabulous meals. Then - walked home. (A big walking day!)
   The next day, Meaghan took the morning off and we drove partway to the Botanical Gardens and walked around it. We saw an apple tree which is a direct clone of Newton's apple tree. We saw Britain's first redwood. We had a tea (we had scones, too) in the cafe and then, after going through the glass houses, Meaghan took off for work. We wandered the gardens for a bit longer